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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (February 8, 1996)From: TRKNWS-L <[email protected]>Turkish Press Review DirectoryCONTENTS[01] HOLIDAY PLANE CRASH DISASTER[02] TURKMEN PRESIDENT STARTS VISIT TO TURKEY[03] YILMAZ CONTINUES HIS ROUNDS[04] FM UNDERSECRETARY IN COPENHAGEN[05] TURKISH ORIGIN GERMAN DEPUTY RECEIVES MEDAL[06] TURKEY DENIES GREEK CLAIM ON AEGEAN SHOOTING[07] AUTO INDUSTRY OUTPUT SOARS 18 % IN JANUARY[08] EIB LENDS FOR MIDDLE EAST GRID LINK[09] TURKEY WORRIED ABOUT ETHNIC TENSIONS IN BULGARIA[10] TURKISH EMBASSY COUNTERS AMNESTY ALLEGATIONS ON HELICOPTER SALES[11] ANKARA: DAMASCUS AND BAGHDAD ARE NOT CONSTRUCTIVE[12] US SENDS A MILITARY DELEGATION[13] OTHER WAYS OF MAKING PEACE WITH GREECE[13] PKK DISPUTE BETWEEN TURKEY AND SWITZERLAND[14] ANTI-PKK CRACK-DOWN[15] A NEW CARDAK CRISIS?[16] SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN ASIA[17] INCREASED ADMINISTRATIVE POWER OVER PROVIDE COMFORT FORCETURKISH PRESS REVIEWTHURSDAY FEBRUARY 8, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] HOLIDAY PLANE CRASH DISASTERA Turkish plane on hire to a charter company crashed yesterday into the Atlantic Ocean just off the Dominican Republic. So far there are no reports of any survivors from the 189 people aboard-eleven of whom were Turks.The Boeing 757 crashed only eight minutes after take-off and crashed without warning or for any apparent reason. The crash area is just at the edge of the region known as the "Bermuda Triangle" where many unexplained plane crashes and ship disasters have happened. Investigators are already suggesting that this could be yet another similar incident. The plane was mainly carrying German tourists and the eleven plane personnel were all Turks. Two people from the Dominican Republic were attached to the cabin crew. The tourists were originally going to fly with the Alas Nacionales Air Company, but due to technical problems this was cancencelled and the Boeing belonging to the Turkish Birgen Air company was hired just for the one flight. Following news of the crash, rescue services from the Bahamas, Miami, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico rushed to the area. Despite the difficulties, so far divers and rescue teams have recovered 106 bodies from the plane. /All papers/
[02] TURKMEN PRESIDENT STARTS VISIT TO TURKEYTurkmen President Saparmurat Turkmenbasi started yesterday a five-day visit to Turkey. A brief statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the Turkmen leader arrived in Istanbul on the first part of his visit. He is expected to stay in Istanbul for four days and hold a meeting with Turkish businessmen who have contacts in Turkmenistan. Turkmenbasi will arrive in Ankara next Monday to hold consultations with his Turkish counterpart Suleyman Demirel. The two presidents will also sign a protocol "on the principals of long-term cooperation between Turkey and Turkmenistan". While in Ankara, Turkmenbasi will be given honorary citizenship of Ankara and the golden key of the city by the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality. /All papers/
[03] YILMAZ CONTINUES HIS ROUNDSMotherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz first met with Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal and Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Bulent Ecevit on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he met with the leaders of two parties which are not represented in Parliament, namely Alparslan Turkes of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Murat Bozlak of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP). /All papers/
[04] FM UNDERSECRETARY IN COPENHAGENForeign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen went to Copenhagen yesterday to attend a political counsultation meeting with his Danish counterpart. The meeting is expected to take up all bilateral, regional and international issues, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel said yesterday in his weekly press conference. /All papers/
[05] TURKISH ORIGIN GERMAN DEPUTY RECEIVES MEDALThe Heuss Foundation in Germany has awarded Cem Ozdemir, a German deputy of Turkish origin, the "Theodor Heuss Medal". Hildegard Hamm-Brucher, chairman of the foundation, said that Ozdemir had struggled for the equality of Turkish citizens living in Germany, and added that he would be awarded DM 5,000 to be used for a Turco-German cooperation project. According to a statement made by the German Embassy in Ankara, the Heuss Foundation has been giving awards to people who devote themselves to democracy and show moral courage since 1964. /Hurriyet/
[06] TURKEY DENIES GREEK CLAIM ON AEGEAN SHOOTINGTurkey yesterday denied a Greek allegation that a Turkish patrol boat had opened fire on Greek fishing boats in the Aegean Sea only days after the NATO allies engaged in a military stand-off there. "It is out of the question that Turkish gunboats would open fire randomly" Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel told a news briefing. /All papers/
[07] AUTO INDUSTRY OUTPUT SOARS 18 % IN JANUARYTurkey's automotive industry output grew by 18 % in January this year compared with the same month in 1995. The number of completed vehicles reached 27,292 compared to 23,226 in January 1995, Automotive Industrialists Association (OSD) figures revealed yesterday. According to the same statistics, bus production showed the largest increase with 388 %, minibus production followed with an 89 % increase and truck output rose 61 %. Automobile production rose 7 % to 19,481 up from 18,246 in the same period last year. /All papers/
[08] EIB LENDS FOR MIDDLE EAST GRID LINKThe European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide a credit facility worth $20 million for financing part of a proposed power grid link between Turkey and four Arab states. The loan, to be supplied to Turkey's national power company TEAS, will be used to finance an energy transmission line between the Ataturk Dam on the Euphrates River and Turkey's Syrian border. Turkish officials said that the transmission line would also support communications services. Turkey will finance $46.4 million (7.4 %) of the estimated $623 million project. Experts say it will be possible to connect the five states with Gulf Arab countries which have a surplus and even to link these countries with Europe through Turkey. /Cumhuriyet/
[09] TURKEY WORRIED ABOUT ETHNIC TENSIONS IN BULGARIAAnkara has expressed its concern over the rising "anti-Turkish" campaign in Bulgaria and called on Sofia not to allow any raising of tensions regarding the ethnic Turks in the country. The Turkish expression of concern came after Kircaali Court took a decision to annul the result of the municipality election in Kircaali, a town mainly populated by ethnic Turks. where Rasim Musa, the candidate of the pro-Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, won the elections. The court decision came late on Monday, after a two-month long trial. "We understand that the legal process is still continuing as the case has been given to the court of appeals" Omer Akbel, Foreign Ministry Spokesman, said yesterday. But he added that the "anti-Turkish elements" had been dominant in the campaign since the local elections. Referring to the ethnic Turks as "loyal citizens of Bulgaria", Akbel said that he hoped "people who have been part of the inhuman assimilation campaign in the past" would not be permitted to raise tensions again through anti-Turkish campaigns. /All papers/
[10] TURKISH EMBASSY COUNTERS AMNESTY ALLEGATIONS ON HELICOPTER SALESThe Turkish Embassy in Washington released a detailed press statement on Tuesday countering the allegations forwarded in January by Amnesty International (AI) to block the sale of AH-1W military helicopters to Turkey. Nineteen members of the US Congress wrote a letter to President Bill Clinton on October 18, 1995, supporting the sale enthusiastically. They said that the 10 helicopters in question would provide 900 jobs in Texas. "AI suggests that helicopters are being used to force citizens to volunteer as village guards. This claim is untrue" the embassy said on Tuesday. "It appears to be based on the PKK's concern about how the village guard system is working. Helicopters are being used on a considerable scale to bring relief supplies to villagers living in high mountain regions, which are otherwise inaccessible. AI fails to mention this point". "A number of examples of alleged human rights violations involving helicopters are cited by AI. None of these are very plausible and some are vague and exaggerated involving evident distortions" the statement said. "It is deplorable that AI does not carry out a more serious investigation of the facts before making public statements which obviously serve the propaganda interests of the PKK". /All papers/
[11] ANKARA: DAMASCUS AND BAGHDAD ARE NOT CONSTRUCTIVEThe Baghdad government, which is going to hold talks with Syria over the water question, has voiced assurances that the meeting is not an alternative to the already functioning tripartite mechanism on water that includes Turkey. Abdussettar Salman Hussein, Deputy Minister of Irrigation, told an Iraqi news agency that his country was also working on a tripartite meeting. Responding to a question on the Turkish reaction to aSyrian-Iraqi meeting on water, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel said that there was already a mechanism made up of three countries -Turkey, Iraq and Syria- to discuss the water problem. "Applying political pressure will not make a positive contribution nor provide a settlement of the matter" he said, renewing the Turkish call to Damascus and Baghdad to assess the matter in terms of scientific and technical information. /Cumhuriyet/
[12] US SENDS A MILITARY DELEGATIONA US delegation is making contacts in Ankara regarding military aid to Bosnia-Herzegovina within the framework of the Dayton Agreement. The delegation paid a courtesy visit to Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ambassador Onur Oymen yesterday. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ambassador Omer Akbel said in his weekly press conference yesterday that US Ambassador to Ankara, Marc Grossman, who headed the delegation, furnished information to Oymen regarding the delegation. /Cumhuriyet/
[13] OTHER WAYS OF MAKING PEACE WITH GREECEAlthough the difficulties stemming from political disagreements with Greece seem insurmountable, ties between Turkey and Greece are improving in other areas. Reports suggest that trade and economic ties are much brighter and more hopeful than the political connections that at the moment are almost at their lowest ebb becausse of the Kardak rocks affair Further, Turkish and Greek money markets are looking stronger in their dealings with other, leading one report to suggest that there could be a "monetary bridge of peace" between the two countries. /Milliyet/
[13] PKK DISPUTE BETWEEN TURKEY AND SWITZERLANDDiplomatic connections between Ankara and Bern have become a lot colder because of PKK activity in Switzerland that makes Ankara uneasy. Turkey has complained to Switzerland about the way that the PKK terrorist organization is allowed to get away with anti-Turkish activity in that country, but so far the Swiss have not responded.Turkey claims that following a PKK planned attack against the Turkish Embassy in Bern in 1993, the PKK has set up training facilities in houses located throughout Switzerland. Turkey has warned the Swiss government about this, but so far there has been no reaction. /All papers/
[14] ANTI-PKK CRACK-DOWNTurkish security forces in the Mount Ararat region in the southeast of Turkey have been cracking-down on the PKK strongholds there, and reports from the area say that twenty-one terrorists have been flushed out and arrested. Security forces representatives said yesterday that large amounts of ammunition and many weapons have also been taken away by the security teams in the operations. /Sabah/
[15] A NEW CARDAK CRISIS?One week ago newspapers and political observers rejoiced that the Kardak crisis was over, but tension in Greece is still obvious. At a parliamentary group meeting of the ruling PASOK party in Greece, the government was harshly criticized for its unsuccessful policy followed during the crisis. Greek diplomatic sources note that the way to a new crisis could be easily opened. This time, Greece is planning to fly its flag on islets with greater strategic importance, that can be more easily controlled and that are out of the reach of the Turkish armed forces. Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel, commenting on Greek aspirations for a 12-mile limit to territorial waters, noted that the problems could not be resolved by unilateral claims, and added that the only way towards a solution was dialogue -- including joint discussion of the arguments presented by each side. /Cumhuriyet, Sabah/
[16] SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN ASIAWithin the framework of initiatives for establishing an Asian Security and Cooperation Council upon the proposal of Kazakhstan Head of State Nursultan Nazarbayev, yesterday representatives of various Asian countries came together in Alma-Ata. During a two-day meeting of deputy foreign ministers the agenda of a future meeting of foreign ministers will be discussed. /Cumhuriyet/
[17] INCREASED ADMINISTRATIVE POWER OVER PROVIDE COMFORT FORCETurkish administratve powers over the multinational Provide Comfort force based in Incirlik near Adana have been increased. Turkey, not satisfied with some regulations regarding the multinational force, has demanded better coordination among the US, UK and France, the countries represented in the Provide Comfort multinational strike force. /Cumhuriyet/
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